Rackmount Server Rumors Resurface

ThinkSecret claims that three sources are reporting that rackmount G4 servers are imminent....

Hopefully think secret is wrong and they are rack mounted G5 servers.

What would be the big advantages of a rack-mount Mac server over, say, a rack-mount Linux server? Seems to me the Linux server would have a much better price/performance ratio, and a dedicated server would nullify all the advantages that the Mac and the Mac OS have on the desktop. Who would want a rackmount server with low performance and a non-journalling filesystem from a company that historically has been a joke in the server arena? I just don't understand.

Alex

It's true that you get more bang for your buck with a Linux/Intel server, and I doubt Apple seriously expects their rackmounted server (if they release one) to be used as a serious Web server.

Where OS X Server really comes into it's own, however, is as a server for OS X clients - right now nothing else is satisfactory. For example, to my knowledge, you can't transfer files with long file names from an OS X client to an NT or Linux server - if anyone has cracked this, please let me know!

So schools, design studios or any other places where they have a lot of Mac clients are likely to be interested.

This may also be a sign that Apple intends to build on OS X's potential for clustering.

Strip out fancy graphics cards, firewire ports, and Superdrives and Apple might actually achieve a decent price on this one!

...kick **** for clustering. My friend and I (both 16) set up a cluster in half an hour, 20 minutes of that was getting the right version of carbonlib and OS8 for the powerbook. Basically a rackmount G4 would have ram, a hard drive, 1/2 processors, and a gigabit ethernet port. Nothing else (maybe an optional ADC port for hooking a monitor to it). I bet you could fit it in a 1U case pretty easily, and it would be MUCH cheaper than the current G4s. ([all these are guesses]-$500 for the superdrive, -$100 for the case, -$100 for the simplified motherboard [no FW, USB, PCI])

Originally posted by mcrain
Hopefully think secret is wrong and they are rack mounted G5 servers.

Heh heh LOL.... Classic...... :p

as long as they release the G5 desktops and PowerBooks at the same time that is!! ;) :) :D

as alluded to earlier, a rackmount server by Apple would be truly a godsend to Schools looking to have Apple "workstations" and a viable server.

Doesn't that seem like such a dirty word for a Mac??

...but what if the eBay item was actually a rack-mount server board, and the "new" connector was actually just the same VGA output connector that the iBook has? As such, it would allow monitor connections for "headless" servers....:confused:

Originally posted by alex_ant
What would be the big advantages of a rack-mount Mac server over, say, a rack-mount Linux server? Seems to me the Linux server would have a much better price/performance ratio, and a dedicated server would nullify all the advantages that the Mac and the Mac OS have on the desktop. Who would want a rackmount server with low performance and a non-journalling filesystem from a company that historically has been a joke in the server arena? I just don't understand.

Alex

Let's not go there again...it's been done to death. Besides, the debate is if they are going to do it, not if it would be better than "x" server.

I think with their forays into 3D development lately (Nothing Real, etc.) it makes sense for them to provide machines that are rack mountable for server farms/ render farms. Bring it on Apple!

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Let's not go there again...it's been done to death. Besides, the debate is [b]if they are going to do it, not if it would be better than "x" server.

[/b]
Whether or not a rackmount Mac server would be better than "x" server will directly influence whether or not Apple would release one, so that's why I think the pluses and minuses of a rackmount Mac server deserve debate. You don't want to see Apple release an utter failure, do you? It's just that the idea of a rackmount Mac makes me nervous, because I know that Apple is no stranger to utter failures...

Alex